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Press Release

FreedomWorks Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jason Pye released the following statement on the recent action from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to increase the power of law enforcement to confiscate property of people who are innocent until proven guilty:

“Jeff Sessions' tendency to expand state power against people who have not been found guilty should concern conservatives. We've made real progress in curbing civil asset forfeiture in the states, and Sessions would usurp these reforms and take property from people who have never even been convicted of a crime.

“The Justice Department’s own Inspector General raised serious concerns about the forfeiture program in a report in March, saying it lacks proper oversight. By expanding government power to take property without appropriate due process, even when state laws don't allow it, Sessions is signaling he answers to no one.

FreedomWorks Vice President of Advocacy Noah Wall released the following statement about the news that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is holding up the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee Russell Vought.

The House of Representatives will consider the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, H.R. 3354. The bill consolidates the eight remaining appropriations measures for FY 2018, including Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD). The House has already passed one consolidated appropriations bill, H.R. 3219, which authorized spending for the Department of Defense, the legislative branch, the military and veterans affairs, and energy and water.

The United States Government seized more from private citizens than burglars in 2014. Current federal laws regarding civil asset forfeiture are overstepping private property rights under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. Under the Fifth Amendment it is the obligation of government to provide evidence against private individuals whereas current civil asset forfeiture laws require private citizens to prove innocence. Civil Asset Forfeiture, where government confiscation is acceptable if it’s in the name of protecting the United States against drug lords by taking away private property.

Over the past several months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a step back on federal justice reform efforts, regressing to purportedly “tough on crime” stances. From advising increased penalties for nonviolent offenders to more recently promising an increase in the use of civil asset forfeiture by the federal government, Sessions has been doing everything in his power to give the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s full support to 80s-era policies from which many conservatives have abandoned in favor of evidenced-based practices that reduce recidivism and enhance public safety.

Civil asset forfeiture, a tool used by law enforcement to seize property from individuals because they have merely been accused of a crime, has gotten a lot more scrutiny in recent days due to its lack of oversight and abuse. What many may not know though is that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also has the ability to seize property from businesses it is investigating. Fortunately, to address the abuses by the organization, Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) have introduced a bill to defend business owners from IRS forfeiture overreach.

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon released the following statement regarding U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s announcement of a plan to streamline the leasing permit process to comply with the legal requirement that permits be handled within 30 days.